


No Time to Die

by harmony88



Series: Forever With You: Part 2 [21]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Angst, Established Relationship, F/M, Kissing, Love, Marriage, Putting the Puzzle Together, Questions are getting answered, Romance, Rose Tyler Loves the Doctor, The Doctor Loves Rose Tyler, problem solving, references
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 14:06:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29951091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harmony88/pseuds/harmony88
Summary: COMPLETEFollowing their trip to Torchwood 2, the Doctor and Rose make a drastic decision to face the problem with the diamonds head-on, but they discover nothing is as it seems.“Doctor -” Rose said, but he just squeezed her hand,“It’s harmful. It’s like a poison, Rose, the kind of anger I felt today,” he whispered. “Once it starts it is very hard to stop.”“You’re not an angry person, Doctor,” she whispered, and he just laughed. It was a sad laugh, and he shook his head.“I am,” he said. He was silent for a moment, and he kissed her forehead. “You make me better.” She looked at him, playing with her earring, and she began to rub her lips, thinking. He just sighed. “You make me so much better, Rose….I should have listened to you.”
Relationships: Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Series: Forever With You: Part 2 [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2111892
Comments: 6
Kudos: 21





	No Time to Die

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! One more little "episode" before I go out of town for a couple days. This is a big one. If you haven't read the past stories in this series, this will start to answer some questions that have been developing since the beginning. Definitely does NOT answer them all and you will probably be left with new questions, too... but let me know what you think, hope you all like it!

Donna was staring at her two closest friends very carefully, realizing in the years she had known them, she’d never seen them angry about the same thing at the same time. 

They weren’t screaming or thrashing or even speaking. They were very still, both looking at the screen on the TARDIS’ console with blank expressions nobody could read. She was sure they were talking in their heads, and she watched the way the Doctor’s temple throbbed and Rose’s tongue had yet to make an appearance, and she sighed. 

She wished there was a storm crashing down around her. She wished they would release their tsunamis and let the riptide carry them away, but instead it felt like they were in the eye of a hurricane, anxiously anticipating the moment one of them would snap and lose control. 

The tension in the room was suffocating. 

She knew it probably wouldn’t happen with anyone on this ship, but depending on what they decide their next move is, she knew they both might become a full blown typhoon, and it was safe to say Donna was a little concerned. 

Martha and Mickey were standing a few feet away, talking quietly. Jack and Ianto were giving them space, and Gwen and Mona were in the galley, meaning Donna was the only one with no one to talk to, forced to dissect her friend’s emotional state in a way that only she knew how. 

She loved those stupid idiots to bits. And her heart was breaking for them. 

Rose sat down in the pilot's chair, still not speaking, and Donna watched as the Doctor just brushed her arm with his hand before he walked away, disappearing down the hall. 

“We’re going to take everyone home,” Rose announced. All eyes shot to her, and Mickey took a step forward, very slowly and carefully. 

“Are you sure?” he asked. “We can help.” 

“We’re sure,” she said. “We’re not in a place to make decisions right now. So we’re taking you home.” 

“We can help you figure out what to do, Rose,” Martha said softly. Donna saw her jaw quiver but she held it together. 

She _smiled._

“I know,” she said. “Call it an instinct, okay?” 

“Kay,” Martha said. “Do you want some tea?”

Rose shook her head, and Donna watched as she began to play with wires in the way the Doctor did, and she shared a glance with Martha. 

“Rose…” Donna said, but her friend just smiled at her. 

“We’re fine,” she said. “Promise. We just need to figure out what to do. And we’ll ring if we need more help. Thank you. All of you.” 

Mona and Gwen walked in then, and Rose just sighed. 

“Where’s the Doctor?” Gwen asked softly, and Rose rubbed her lips together. 

“He’s fine,” Rose replied, and she tried to ignore the glances all her friends gave her, all very aware her response did not answer Gwen’s question. “Who wants to go first?” 

“We’re leaving?” Mona asked, and Rose just punched in the coordinates for Cardiff, uninterested in repeating herself. She pulled the lever. 

“Cardiff, yeah?” she asked, and Gwen gave her a sad smile and nodded. Rose just nodded back, desperately trying not to cry. “Great. I’ll go tell Jack.” 

“Rose -” Mickey said, trying to catch her, but she bolted down the hall and disappeared to her bedroom, breaking into tears the moment the door closed. 

She was just _so_ tired. And still so angry. 

She felt two arms that smelled like Christmas wrap themselves around her. She had no idea when he managed to slip inside the room, but she didn’t question it. He held her, and she let herself feel overwhelmed for a moment, before she pulled away and wiped her eyes. 

“What were the books?” she asked, knowing what he had been doing while she was in the console room. 

“They’re about timelocks,” he muttered. “I have no idea where they could have possibly gotten them, Rose.” 

“Maybe whoever gave Patrick the Eye of Discord gave them to him or something,” she said, fluttering her lips. “God, I want to go to bed.” 

She was starting to cry again, and he clenched his jaw, pulling her back to him. 

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered. 

“What?” she asked, irritated beyond measure that he was apologizing right now. 

“You married The Last of Time Lords...Which I s’pose means that having children with me -” 

“Are you seriously doing this right now?” she scolded, and he opened his mouth, just to close it again. 

“Apparently,” he groaned. 

She let out a breath and wrapped her arms around him, her hand in his hair. 

“First stop is Cardiff,” she said, changing the subject. “Let’s just get everyone home safe.” 

“Okay,” he said, and she moved to the ensuite, splashing her face with water before she grabbed his hand and walked back to the console room. 

Jack and Ianto had joined everyone at some point in the last ten minutes, and they hugged them both as they stepped off of the ship first. Jack's eyes lingered. 

“You call. The moment you need something. You both got that? You are worth fighting for,” Jack said. Rose’s throat tightened, and she held her breath to stop tears, quite mad at herself for still being so emotional. The Doctor nodded, and they gave each other a quick salute. 

Gwen hugged them, followed by Mona, who was awkward about it and Rose let it go, not bothering to try and assure her again. She was too tired. 

Mickey decided to go back to London with Martha for the night, and they closed the door to the TARDIS quickly, readjusting the coordinates for Martha’s flat. She just hugged them wordlessly, able to sense how close Rose was to breaking down, and Mickey just winked at them, making Rose smile a little. 

“Love you,” he said. 

“Love you, too,” Rose whispered, and he shared a look with the Doctor, both nodding as they stepped off the ship, leaving Rose and the Doctor alone with Donna. 

“Your turn,” the Doctor said, punching in her coordinates next. Donna just looked at them, tucking her hair behind her ear as she walked closer to the controls, and sat down. 

“Any particular you saved me for last, spaceman?” she asked softly. He shook his head. 

“Someone had to be,” he said, and Rose just rubbed her eyes, so bloody exhausted it was making them itch. Donna nodded. 

“Well, you want to know what I think?” she asked, and they both smirked at her, aware she was going to tell them no matter what. “I think...that once upon a time, I stumbled onto this ship in my wedding dress to see two dumbos so in love they had, quite literally, just defied the laws of the universe to be together again. They were standing there, if you remember.” 

She pointed to the edge of the grating, and the Doctor’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and Donna just shrugged. 

“And I watched them save the world. Then I watched them do it again. And again. I’ve watched them fight for _each other_ over and over and over, and do more impossible things than I could even begin to describe, and they always do it together. And, well... if there are two people in this universe who could possibly stop whatever is going on and protect their child in the process, it's the two blubbering, lovesick idiots I met in my wedding dress,” she said. 

Both of them stared at her, and she just sighed. 

“Thank you,” Rose whispered, her voice breaking. Donna just nodded and wrapped her in a hug, kissing the top of her head before she moved to the Doctor, hugging him, too. 

“You got this,” she said. “And you know where to find me if you need me.” 

“Always,” the Doctor said, his voice so thick he had to clear his throat. 

Donna moved toward the door, and Rose wasn’t sure what came over her, but she grabbed her arm.

“Wait,” she said. Their eyes danced for a moment and Rose looked at the Doctor, who just smiled a little, aware of what she was thinking. “Those two blubbering idiots?” 

“Yeah?” Donna asked. 

“They…” she said, almost telling her the secret that had been following them around; that they found a way to have forever, but she chickened out. “They love you.” 

“Sappy saps,” she said. “Love you, too.” 

She winked at them as she pushed the door open, and Rose let out a breath, gripping the railing for support. The Doctor wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her to him tenderly, and she closed her eyes. 

“I almost…” she whispered. 

“I know,” he murmured, kissing her temple. “Don’t worry about that right now.” 

She nodded, turning in his arms so she could press her ear to his chest, listening to the double beat of his hearts. She stayed there for a moment, before the Doctor took her hand and led her to the infirmary. She almost protested, but she didn’t, and instead just hopped onto the table and took a deep breath as he set up the scanner, and they saw their daughter. 

“Look at you,” Rose said. 

“She’s…” he said, clearing his throat. “She’s about the size of a grapefruit. Vitals all look great. She’s...let’s see….about a foot long? And she weighs….hold on.” 

He did something with the sonic, and he just looked at the screen. 

“1 pound,” he murmured. Rose smiled. 

“So small,” she said, and the Doctor nodded. 

“Yeah, but...it’s perfect. Exactly where she should be,” he assured her, grabbing her hand and kissing the back of it carefully. “She can sense light, hear sounds...” 

“Yeah?” Rose asked, “The lullaby?” 

“Mhm,” he said. “It wasn’t just the vibrations she was responding to, but your voice, Rose.” 

She felt the tears spill onto her face and she had no control over it. “Yeah?” 

“Yep,” he said quietly. “I think she likes you.” She choked on a laugh, her tears caught in her throat, and he brushed them away, letting out a breath and he tucked her hair behind her ear, and they just looked at each other. “I love you.” 

“I love you, too,” she managed to say, and he moved to sit on the table next to her, letting the scanner with the image go, but he didn’t remove the one that was touching her belly, and as he pulled her to him, the double heartbeat of their daughter’s very real, very alive little body reverberated around them, and they closed their eyes. 

“Can she sense time?” Rose whispered, and the Doctor smiled. 

His perfect, impossible human. 

“I don’t think so,” he told her. “Not yet. Soon.” 

Rose didn’t say anything, and she let the “whoosh” sounds comfort her in ways she didn’t realize they could, holding his hand. 

He began to twist her wedding right with this thumb, her own heartbeat easing him just as much as their daughter’s was, and after many minutes, they both felt a little calmer. It wasn’t joyful or giddy, and he knew his boisterous self might be in hibernation for a few days, but there was enough calamity that he was okay unhooking the scanner from her belly and helping her sit up. 

Hazel galaxies swam in chocolate, and he kissed her. 

“Sleep now, talk later?” he whispered, and she just sighed. 

“We can try,” she said. 

“Come on,” he murmured, kissing her again and leading her to the bedroom, where they both changed and freshened up, their minds heavy and distracted, before they curled up next to each other. 

They were spooning as he drew circles in Gallifreyan on her hips. She wasn’t paying attention to what the words he was spelling, she just closed her eyes and tried to guide her mind to sleep. She knew the Doctor could do it for her, but she didn’t want that, worried that if she had a nightmare in that state of sleep she wouldn’t be able to wake up, and she had a very strong suspicion that is exactly what awaited her. 

She was correct. 

She awoke with a start no more than two hours later, her own internal clock screaming at her. She couldn’t remember the dream and she sighed, noticing the Doctor had rolled onto his back but kept his hand on her waist, and she took a deep breath, trying to drift off again. 

She was greeted by the same vivid nightmare she’d had months before. Both of them running toward each other on that abandoned street, a space gun on her hip, Donna watching. 

A Dalek shot him. 

She woke up with another start. 

Her heart was pounding a little as she tried to let the images go, and she took a deep breath, and then another, before she managed to drift off one final time. 

She screamed herself awake an hour later, and there was no going back from that. 

“I got you,” the Doctor whispered immediately. He hadn't been doing much better with his own dreams, and he had been watching her carefully when her scream pierced the air and made his stomach twist. He pulled her to him, running his hand along her back, and she gripped his shirt tightly, trying to forget the images she’d just seen. “I got you.” 

She pulled away to stare at his face, and she traced her fingers along the spots where she had just seen blood, and a tattered suit, and heard him screaming inside a glass box. 

Dying. 

She let out a shaky breath, desperately trying not to hyperventilate again, and she kissed his shoulder, shaking her head. 

“I love you,” she said. 

“I love you, too,” he murmured. “Do you want to talk about it?” 

She sighed, “Which part?” 

“Any of it,” he said. He was committing her face to memory for the thousandth time, she could tell, his eyes looking over every inch of her features slowly. 

She sighed, “It was just a dream.” 

“It made you scream,” he whispered. She just closed her eyes, sending him the images she could remember, and he stiffened beside her. “Rose…” 

“I know it's not real,” she whispered, her voice shaking. “And I know there’s all this other stuff going on, but these pregnancy dreams...they feel…” 

“Rose, look at me,” he said, and she bit her lip as she lifted her eyes to his. “It’s not real.” 

“I just said that,” she murmured. 

“I know,” he whispered, cupping her cheek. “It’s just that I had that dream too.” 

“What?” she asked, alarmed. He nodded. 

“The night before we went to Wonderland,” he began. “That’s what I dreamed about. A glass chamber, red lights, screaming...” 

“Dying?” she asked, her voice far away. He sighed. 

“Dying,” he admitted. “I’m an idiot.” 

“Stop,” Rose said, suddenly completely understanding why he was such a wreck that night, but he just rubbed a hand over his face. 

“No, I am. I didn’t realize until just now, but the fact that we both...” he sputtered. “Is not just a dream. It’s a timeline.”

She stared at him, and he clenched his jaw. 

“Well, it’s not going to happen,” she said, unable to put words to the emotions she was feeling at the moment. He nodded. 

“I know,” he whispered. “Care for a mini-lecture?”

“Sure,” she said, rolling her eyes slightly, her normal witty self not able to think of anything better to say. He kissed her forehead. 

“Timelines that still have the potential to occur, so long as they are hidden from a person, will come in flashes when we’re awake. We’ve both had that happen, right?” he asked. She nodded. “Right...Well, if we dream timelines, they’re locked. Some fixed point closed them off from whatever timeline we’re currently on. They’re just...”

“Ripples,” Rose murmured, and he felt a lump in his throat. 

“Exactly,” he said. “When you were lost, Rose, I got flashes of a timeline watching you cry on a beach. Almost every day, I saw you... After I got you back, I only ever saw that timeline in my dreams.”

“That’s good, right?” she said, and he just sighed. 

“Yeah, I...it gave me more comfort than I can describe at first, until we met Ridgemont Entities, and then everytime I dreamed it I lost my mind a little…” he said, and she furrowed her brow. 

She stared at him, and he took a deep breath, waiting many seconds before he let it back out. 

“It’s just very strange that we’re both dreaming about the same lost timeline, Rose,” he said. “I don’t like it.” 

“We share a mind,” she reminded him, brushing her hand along his cheek, which had a faint amount of stubble on it. “I probably just...I dunno. It’s locked, it can’t happen. That’s good enough for me.” 

“Yeah,” he croaked, and he kissed her forehead. “Maybe.” 

Neither said anything for a while, and she eventually sat up, flipping the light on. She leaned back against the bedframe, her hand on her belly, and he sat up with her, watching. “I’m so angry.” 

“Me too,” he said. 

“I’m sorry that me freaking out meant you couldn’t,” Rose whispered, and he just laughed. It wasn’t joyful, it was heavy and loaded, but a smile on his face was nice to see, and it made her laugh a little, too. 

“It’s better for everyone that I didn’t, Rose,” he murmured. “I was ready to blow the entire place up.” 

“Maybe we should,” she half-joked, and he smirked a little at her. “I happen to have this crazy energy inside of me. One shot at the right power grid, and…” 

“You’re a little instigator, Rose Tyler,” he said. 

“You started it,” she replied, and for a moment, they were themselves. It was short lived, though, and he immediately grabbed her hand, letting out a breath. 

“There’s only one thing I can think to do, Rose, and I...I really….” he said, closing his eyes. “I can’t have you with me when I do it.” 

“Tough,” she said and he looked at her very seriously. 

“I mean it,” he said. “All I can think of is breaking into the Kosmos Society’s offices. Try to find those missing files. In and out, quick and strategic.” 

“When do you want to go?” she asked, and he looked at her a little surprised, having expected her to argue. 

“I can’t decide if now is better or if I should go in 1989,” he muttered. Rose rubbed her lips together. 

“Now,” she said. “They’ve been using them, probably, for the last twenty years. If we take them in 1989 we -” 

“Alter the timeline. You’re brilliant,” he whispered. “Thank you.” 

“I want to come,” she said. 

“You can’t,” he said, almost begging, and she just gave him a look. “Rose, no. Please. I think they’ll know it’s you.” 

He rubbed his hand over her belly. She rolled her eyes. 

“Lots of people are pregnant, Doctor,” she said, but the look in his eye made her stop her teasing. 

“That room, Rose...If they somehow...I dunno, took you. Or…” he said, but his hearts were breaking at the mere thought, and his storm was brewing in a way he wouldn’t be able to control. He just sighed. “I won’t be able to focus if you’re there.” 

“Okay,” Rose said, knowing he was right. “I’ll be on the TARDIS, then. I’ll hack into the security cameras, be an extra set of eyes. We’ll talk in our heads.” 

“You know how to do that?” he asked, a little impressed, and she bit her lip. 

“Maybe,” she said with a wink, and he smiled at her, the first genuine smile he’d made in hours. 

“Rose Tyler, Defender of the Earth,” he whispered, and she kissed him. His hand moved from her belly to her lower back, pulling her closer, and they allowed themselves a few moments to just love each other. To kiss and embrace, to feel like a normal couple expecting their first child who are just happy and unbothered by the universe, before he pulled away, both rubbing their lips together, savoring their taste. 

“You are my reason to fight,” he told her. 

“You’re mine,” she said. He kissed her again. 

“I know there is a lot more to talk about, but...I’m sorry. I need to go now before I get too angry or overthink,” he said. 

“Don’t apologize. Okay?” she murmured 

“Okay,” he added, letting out a breath. “I love you.”

“I love you, too. Let’s go,” she agreed, and they both moved to the console room. 

It all happened quickly. 

They found the address for the Kosmos Society on Rose’s cell phone, and they punched in the coordinates for the day after Pete’s birthday. They found themselves in Cambridge on a brisk day in 2010 moments later, and the Doctor glanced at his psychic paper, running to the wardrobe to change into some sort of undercover persona. 

He was “John Smith” today, a scientist from Wales, and he knew it was because Patrick met him as James McKinnon back in 1968. 

He was in jeans and a burgundy, very tight fitting jumper, and he was wearing his glasses. He threw on the peacoat from Halloween with his parents, the purple tint complimenting the shirt beautifully, and a thin black scarf. When he bounded down the stairs and moved to the console, grabbing all the supplies he might possibly need, he glanced up to see Rose staring at him. 

“What?” he asked, and she just shook her head. 

“Nothing,” she said. He smirked at her. 

“What?” he asked again, already knowing what she was thinking when the moment her tongue darted out. “You like it?” 

“Mhm,” she hummed, and he smiled pulling her to him in a kiss. 

“I’ll remember that,” he said in her ear, his voice soothing and seductive, and she let out a breath, both too distracted to continue to flirt, but the moment was nice all the same. “Show me how you hack into security cameras.” 

She smiled at him, moving to the screen on the console, and she began to adjust wires and played with the settings on her sonic screwdriver. He watched intently, already knowing how to do this himself, and he just shook his head in amazement when she punched some code into the console, and she turned the monitor on. 

“There,” she said, and he looked over her shoulder, seeing the lobby of the Kosmos Society in black and white.

“That was hot,” he teased, and she just laughed a little. The weight of the world was on their shoulders, but she could tell having a plan was making both of them feel a little better, if only for a moment, and she pressed the arrow key on the keyboard. 

“They have one in the lobby, and the main hallway,” she said, pressing the key again and cycling through the different cameras. “There’s one on each floor and in the lab, and one in this office….and one out front and back. That’s it.” 

“Pretty low tech for a group of people that had a vortex manipulator on a satellite,” he muttered, and her brow was creased. 

“You’re going to have to sever the feed,” she said. “Just a feeling.” 

“That’s fine. I’ll keep my mind open so you can still see,” he told her, and she nodded, letting out a breath. “Do me a favor?”

“Anything,” she said. 

“Lock the doors,” he told her seriously. She just stared at him. 

“No one is going to take me away,” she said, cupping his face in her hands. “I promise.” 

“Not if we have anything to say about it,” he said softly, and she pulled him into a kiss. “Just lock the doors.” 

He felt that protectiveness in his blood grip him tightly, and the urge to keep them both safe was like a fire, all consuming. He just looked at her, and for a moment, it all started to get to him, and he just closed his eyes. 

His anger was knocking on his hearts. 

“Okay,” Rose said, and he opened his eyes, nodding. 

“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he said. “I love you. So much.” 

“I love you, too.” 

He gave her one more fiery kiss before he walked out the doors and immediately headed to the office building, and Rose took a seat in the pilot’s chair, asking the TARDIS to lock the door as she nudged her mind to the Doctor’s. 

_Hello._

_Hello._

He sniffed as he approached the front doors, and pulled them open. The desk to check-in was empty, and he looked around slowly. It felt like any other office building. There were a few chairs so people could sit and wait to be let up against large windows, and he noticed pictures of Einstein and Steven Hawking on one wall, and portraits of Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton on the other.

He was about to just sever the security camera and run upstairs when a young man in a white coat came running out of another room holding a cup of tea, and he smiled at him. 

“Hello! Welcome!” he said, “I’m so sorry. I was grabbing a cuppa. Would you like one?” 

“I’m alright,” he said. He had to restrain himself from just yelling at the man, his storm still brewing, and he pulled out his psychic paper, watching as he read it over carefully. 

“Oh, are you here for our new school offerings?” he asked. The Doctor just looked at him, and the man gave him a wide smile. 

It was the most irritating thing he’d seen in a while. 

“That’s great. We’re trying to broaden our reach. I’m sure Mrs. Townes can elaborate further, but -” the man continued, but the Doctor interrupted. 

“Mrs. Townes?” the Doctor asked, his annoyance lined in his voice and his hearts pounding, but the man just smiled. 

“Angela Townes?” he said. “She’s the CEO.” 

_Took his name. Clever._

_Can you find her office for me?_

_On it. Also, take a breath, okay?_

He closed his eyes for a moment, reminded Rose could feel everything he was. He sniffed, looking at all the pictures on the wall. 

“How long have you worked here?” he asked. 

“About a year,” the man said. “I’m Harry.” 

“Neat,” he said, entirely unimpressed, and Rose told him he was being rude. “I mean...nice to meet you.” 

“Yeah,” Harry said. “You can have a seat, if you want. ” 

The Doctor was watching him carefully and he turned to a chair by the window, deducting. 

“Where’s your loo?” he asked. 

“Oh, right through there. Also, Mrs. Townes is in a meeting until 10am, but she can meet with you right after,” he said.

“Fine,” the Doctor agreed, having no intention of talking to Angela. He didn’t trust himself not to let that be his breaking point, and his only goal was to find those missing files and get back to Rose. Harry just looked at him as the Doctor walked down the hall toward the loo, and after a moment he turned his attention to the phone, which was ringing. 

_That’s me on the line._

_You’re brilliant._

He used the distraction to point his sonic at the security camera over Harry’s head and disrupted the feed, then snuck back behind him to the staircase, and bolted up two flights, stopping and tucking himself against the wall. 

_Keep going. Fourth floor. I found it, down the hall from the lab. Don’t get caught._

He sent her a wave of love as he moved up another set of stairs and very carefully slipped through the door, finding himself on a level that was full of rooms with large windows that, for some reason, faced inside toward the hallway. Most of them were empty, except for the lab, where he saw four scientists walking around in goggles and coats, and he deducted quickly, choosing to travel down the path of least resistance. 

In other words, he walked around the lab entirely, his back to the group. 

_Camera, don’t forget._

_Love you._

He pointed his sonic at the security camera on this floor, disrupting it in the same manner as downstairs, and he was grinding his teeth as he watched the scientists from a distance, hidden, but able to see they were doing something with electricity. 

“What?” he muttered under his breath, but he chose to ignore it for now, still on a mission to find Angela’s office, figuring there was a high probability that the files might be there. 

He ran past the final part of the lab he hadn’t been able to clear quickly, just as the scientists all turned their back to him and didn’t see him. He let out a breath and walked down the hall, finding an office with Angela's name on the door. 

“Rose, you’re brilliant,” he muttered and he glanced around, sonicing it open. 

He worked quickly, starting at her desk, lifting everything up and rummaging around. 

Searching. 

He looked in the bin, in each drawer, behind the pictures on the walls. He began to pour through her file cabinet, letting his Time Lord brain take in information at a rate Rose was having a hard time fully keeping up with, but she was watching in his head, deducting with him and letting her instincts guide her. 

He heard footsteps and he turned sharply. 

_Get out._

_I have one more drawer._

_Doctor, get the hell out._

He sighed, opening the drawer anyway, and the door to the office opened. 

“Doctor?” 

He realized, as he turned around to see Angela staring at him, now in her late fifties, that he had just made a big mistake. Rose was right, as she always was, and he should leave. He should just walk past this woman and walk out the door and walk back to the TARDIS, because he was too angry and too emotional to be rational and he was remembering why he didn’t want to see her. 

He knew that he should leave. 

But his brain is much too large, and old habits are hard to break, and just because he recognized that he _should_ leave didn’t necessarily make him want to, and his anger teetered beyond control the moment Angela had the audacity to smile at him. She was _smiling,_ but all he could see were his wife’s tears from the night before. All that anger and pain he knew she was still feeling, anger and pain _he_ was still feeling, all because of some stupid scheme this company was somehow involved in. 

And this woman was in charge...

He wasn’t thinking clearly as he slammed the cabinet shut, causing Angela to jump. 

“This is...a surprise. I have to say, I’m -” 

“Shut up,” he said angrily, his storm finally breaking free after many, many, many hours of reigning it in. “Stop talking. Sit.” 

She creased her brow at him and did as he said, and he used the sonic to close and lock her door, then took out the feed on her camera as well, realizing this was the office Rose had seen on the TARDIS. 

_Doctor -_

_Not now._

Angela stared at him and he stared right back, his nostrils flaring slightly. 

“Am I supposed to say something?” Angela whispered, and the Doctor glared at her. 

“Only if I ask,” he said, trying to decide what to do. 

This was not the plan. This was so not the plan. He could feel the devil on his shoulder getting louder and louder, telling him to just scream and see what he could get out of her, and his hearts were starting to beat rapidly in his chest. 

_Doctor, listen to me._

_Stay there, Rose._

“What are you looking for?” she asked anyway, and the Doctor’s glare grew darker. 

“I think you know,” he said. “Last night, Torchwood 2….We found your secret room. The one with the children’s books. We know about the missing files.” 

“What is Torchwood?” she asked, and the Doctor snapped, slamming his fist into the file cabinet so the sound reverberated in the room, and Angela jumped again. 

“Don’t you dare do that,” he said. “I am not your friend. I am not here for pleasantries or to play whatever this game of yours is. I am very, very angry,” he said quietly, the way that let Rose know he was his most infuriated. “What is your plan?” 

“What are you talking about?” Angela asked, eyes wide, and the Doctor had to force himself not to slam her against the wall and start screaming, every fiber of his body wanting to. 

_You need to stop._

He ignored her. 

“I’m not going to ask again,” he asked. “You are threatening my wife and my daughter, and that...Angela...That is just stupid. It’s really, very stupid, to try to go after my family. A very, very big mistake….” 

She just stared at him, unable to speak, and he slammed his hands on the cabinet again. When he spoke next, he was yelling. 

“Talk. Now!” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” Angela said, tears starting to spill over. She was shaking, and the Doctor opened his mouth when the door flew open, and Rose was standing there with her hands on her hips. 

“Stop!” she shouted, and he stared at her. 

“Go back to the TARDIS,” he said instantly, a new kind of anger and fear gripping him. 

“No,” she said. Angela just watched, trembling harder as the Doctor moved toward Rose to try and talk her out of this, but she brushed past him and kneeled down as best she could in front of Angela. “Are you alright?” 

“What’s going on? I don’t...I…” Angela said, and the Doctor just groaned. 

“Rose, I swear to God, please -” 

“You need to shut it and pull yourself together,” she said, turning to look at him carefully. “Instincts, Doctor! I told you to stop!” 

“Instincts aren’t fact! She - ” he said, and she looked back at Angela. 

She was not about to have that fight again. 

“You really have no idea what he is talking about, do you?” she whispered, making sure the Doctor could still hear her, and Angela just shook her head. 

“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry. You can have whatever you want, I’ll let you look at anything, I just...Please, I don’t know what I did but I’m so sorry,” she said, and the Doctor felt a cold wave wash over him, and he ran his hand over his face. 

“Close the door,” Rose said, and the Doctor clenched his jaw, doing so and leaning his back against the wall. 

He cursed under his breath. 

Angela looked at him, her eyes wide in fear, and he made a pained face, pressing the back of his head against the wall. 

“We’ll go,” Rose said. “Okay? Just...before we do...This might sound crazy, but do you know anything about diamonds that drain time?” 

Angela’s face, which had been so scared and pale, suddenly darkened, and she looked at both of them carefully. 

“Do you?” she asked, and Rose nodded. 

“We’re trying to figure it out,” she murmured. “Something is happening and it involves our child and...We’ve pieced together some things. We know Patrick was involved, and so we suspected -”

“Patrick wasn’t involved,” Angela said quickly. “That’s what this is all about?” Rose just nodded, and Angela let out a breath. “Then I don’t blame him for yelling at me. If I thought I had something to do with that...I’d yell, too.” 

“What?” the Doctor asked, and Angela wiped her eyes, no longer shaking, and she sniffed. 

“You two should come with me, there’s something I need to show you,” she said. “Something Patrick wanted to show you years ago, I think. That day…” 

Rose just looked at the Doctor, who was staring at Angela as she stood up and crossed to the door. She led them out into the hall and past the lab, until they reached a small room that felt more like a closet, and she let them go in first. 

“Rose, I’m so sorry,” the Doctor whispered, and she just squeezed his hand. 

“I know. I get it. Later, okay?” she murmured, looking around the room. The Doctor wanted to continue, but Angela flipped the switch, and his stomach flipped over. 

Similarly to what was currently sitting behind his desk on the TARDIS, there was a board with yarn and pictures and notes all thrown up on the wall, and Angela just looked at them. 

“Where do you want to start?” she asked. 

Rose was completely confused, and the Doctor’s face was stone as he walked up to the board, and he turned to face Angela. 

“You don’t have anything to do with the diamonds?” he asked, and she just shook her head. 

“No,” she said. “But Patrick’s great great grandfather knew about them. I think that’s how Patrick got interested.” 

“Did he work for Queen Victoria?” Rose asked, already knowing the answer but needing confirmation. Angela nodded. 

“Edmund Townes,” she said, and Rose and the Doctor just looked at each other, realizing it was the first time they’d heard his first name. “I’m not sure what the entire story is. But I know that Edmund was given them to help undo some disease the Queen had. But she died anyway, and suddenly Edmund wanted to destroy them. The entire Townes family has wanted to get rid of those things for a century.” 

Rose felt her entire head spin, and the Doctor held her waist, staring at Angela. 

“Well, then...who wants them?” he asked, unsure how he was able to speak. Angela sighed. 

“The million dollar question,” she muttered. “One Patrick had figured out just before you were on the Satellite. Here.” 

She crossed to the board and spun it around, where she had mapped out circles against black paper. Some of them had faces taped inside, none of which they recognized, but the largest one in the middle was still dark. 

“They’re called the Oath of Secrets,” Angela said. “They’re scientists, like us. At least, I think they are. But they seem to be… According to Patrick’s notes, they want to control the diamonds. They’re using them for something.” 

A mirage of questions were swimming in both of their heads, and neither knew where to begin. 

The Doctor wasn’t breathing, and he looked back at the circles, holding Rose’s hand. “The largest circle...is that who is in charge?”

“I think so,” Angela said. “Patrick said they're known as ‘the Darkness’.” 

Rose closed her eyes, her hand on her stomach, and the Doctor stiffened. 

“He wanted our help,” the Doctor whispered, and Angela nodded. 

“I think so. Probably. He admired you both, I told you that,” she said. “The Satellite was locked somehow, but we were eventually able to use a laser and some other tools to break back in. This was all tucked in his office. I had no idea he...I found it ten years ago.” 

“So….From 1989 to 2000 this just...sat there?” Rose asked, and Angela sighed. 

“I have tried to piece it all together, but Patrick was the last of the Townes family still alive, and his notes are...Look. My job is hard. When he died, everything for some reason or another fell on my shoulders and I’ve spent the last twenty years trying to uphold his legacy here. Prove to people he wasn’t crazy. Make sure our education programs the best that they could be, so I haven’t done much with it,” she said. “I also...I know this is going to sound selfish, but I think they may have killed him, and I’ve been too scared...I’m sorry.” 

“No,” Rose said. “Don’t worry about that. It’s alright.” 

The Doctor was staring at the board again, and he flipped it back around, looking at the evidence Patrick had apparently collected, their conversation that day in 1968 coming to his mind. 

_“So...what else do you believe?” Rose asked, and Patrick smiled at her._

_“Just what I’ve said. Time is. Nothing we can do about it, and trying to control it is futile,” he said._

_“Who said anything about controlling it?” the Doctor asked, and Patrick just shrugged. He looked at Rose for a moment, and he sniffed. “Back there….you kept saying ‘here’...What did you mean?”_

_“What Rose said,” Patrick told them. “That time is too large for us to contain. It can’t just belong to Earth._

They had gotten so much wrong, and it was making him feel sick; a fact he found entirely inconvenient and irritating, and his wife rubbed his back. He sighed. 

“Can we take all of this?” he whispered. Angela smiled sadly at him. 

“I think he wanted you to have it,” she said. “I would have tried to give it to you sooner, but I wasn’t sure if they are still around, the Oath, or how to contact you, and…” 

“We’re here now,” the Doctor said. “I’m...I’m sorry. That I yelled at you.” 

“Don’t be,” she said. “Someone is threatening you, right?” Both Rose and the Doctor just looked at her. “Just be careful. If it’s them... You saw what they did to my Patrick.” 

“He was a good man, wasn’t he?” Rose asked, and Angela just swallowed hard and bit back tears. 

“The best,” she said. They all looked at each other for a moment, before Angela began to take everything off the board and put it back in the box she had found on the satellite. 

“You really are just an education program, then?” the Doctor asked, a small smile on his face. Angela laughed. 

“Yes,” she said. “‘Expand the minds of mankind, further our knowledge of Time and Space.’ Get the youngest members of society interested in the beauty of science. It’s what Patrick wanted more than anything. I wish he had let all of this go...” 

The Doctor just nodded, and Angela took a deep breath, continuing to remove the items from the board. 

“How did he get the satellite?” he asked, leaning against the wall. Angela shrugged. 

“You asked that before, didn’t you?,” she said. “I don’t know. He was so excited that day… Came bouncing in here talking about his idea for a traveling exhibit and he spent three years developing the technology for the portal. We shut those exhibits down after he...I never looked at it. That’s all I know.” 

“Right,” the Doctor said, sharing a glance with Rose. “Thank you, Angela. For your help.” 

“Sure. And congratulations on the baby,” she said. 

“Thank you,” Rose said, still feeling a little dizzy, and the Doctor held onto her. “Anything else you can tell us?” 

She shook her head, and she passed the box over to her. Rose gripped it tightly, and Angela just took a deep breath. “Thank you. For taking my sister and I home that day. It’s been twenty years but...I have a feeling it’s not quite that long for you, is it?” 

The Doctor shook his head, not elaborating further, and Angela just made a small sound. 

“He respected you. He appreciated everything you showed him. Know that,” she said. 

“I’m glad,” Rose said. “Thanks, Angela.” 

She led them out of the room and back out to the front of the building, and they waved goodbye as they moved toward the TARDIS. They weren’t speaking, their exhaustion only having gotten worse over the last couple of hours, and the Doctor watched as Rose walked to the library to add the items from the box to the board, and he sighed. 

He punched the coordinates in for the villa, and he went to get her. 

The universe could wait. He knew she needed him as much as he needed her. 

“Hey,” he said, leaning against the wall. She had already rearranged the board, moving the notecards they made to the left side so she could add the circles to the right, looking at each face carefully as she pinned them in place. 

“Hey,” she said. “These are members of the Oath that Patrick figured out. We can look into them.” 

“Okay,” he said, watching her carefully as she flipped the board around and began to pin news articles and other clues in the same way Angela had, and eventually she stopped, letting out a deep breath. 

“This is so much more than we thought,” she muttered, her hand on her belly. 

He walked up next to her, letting her lean her head on his shoulder as he kissed her forehead, looking at the board with her. 

“I went too far today,” he said. “That’s why I didn’t want to let myself feel anything. I knew…” 

“Everything worked out fine,” she said. “Let it go, yeah?” He sighed, and she slipped her hand into his, interlocking their fingers. “You don’t have to explain. I haven’t stopped feeling angry myself. It’s a lot to process and I was in your head the whole time. I know.” 

A moment passed, her words trying to let his hearts hear them, and he sighed. 

“I guess it’s a good thing we didn’t go back to that Satellite,” he muttered. Rose smiled a little, and she looked up at him. “I think Angela was supposed to be the one to give it to us.” 

“Destiny?” she asked. 

“Or whatever you want to call it,” he whispered, and they both looked at the board, deducting and trying to stay calm. “I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you, Rose.” 

“I told you -” she said, but he just looked at her, pleading with her to let him finish. She did. 

“I don’t want her to think anger is how she has to process everything,” he said seriously. “It's what my father did...It’s what most Time Lords did...And after I lost my mother and Alice...After my kids decided they wanted nothing to do with me, I just…” 

“Doctor -” Rose said, but he just squeezed her hand, 

“It’s harmful. It’s like a poison, Rose, the kind of anger I felt today,” he whispered. “Once it starts it is very hard to stop.” 

“You’re not an angry person, Doctor,” she whispered, and he just laughed. It was a sad laugh, and he shook his head. 

“I am,” he said. He was silent for a moment, and he kissed her forehead. “You make me better.” She looked at him, playing with her earring, and she began to rub her lips, thinking. He just sighed. “You make me so much better, Rose….I should have listened to you.” 

“Doctor, I’ve been just as angry -” she began, and he shook his head. 

“No,” he said. “No, you haven’t been. You’ve been angry, but not…” 

He clenched his jaw very tightly, so tightly it almost looked painful, and Rose just watched him run a hand over his face again. 

“Just...don’t let our daughter grow up thinking she needs to be angry to win. She doesn’t,” he said.

“You’re talking as if you won’t be here to do that yourself,” she said. “Please don’t do that.” 

His throat tightened, the nightmare flashing in his head again, and he just nodded. 

“Promise me?” he asked. She stared at him, nodding, and he took a deep breath, leading her away from the board. “We’re at the villa. We both need to sleep. Come on.” 

She felt tears spill onto her cheeks when he grabbed her hand and tried to walk away from this conversation, but she stopped walking and pulled him back. “You’re not going to die, Doctor.” 

He clenched his jaw and he took a deep breath. 

Of course she knew. 

“Maybe,” he said. “But we don’t know that for sure.” 

“Stop,” she said. “I can’t...I…” 

He immediately regretted saying anything, because suddenly she was crying again, and he realized he was being selfish, as he usually was, thinking about how everything was affecting him and not considering the fact that maybe this layer of his fears were too much for her right now. 

He groaned, but before he could comfort her or apologize she stopped crying and stood very still before him. He just looked at her. 

“Rose…” he said, and she just took a breath. 

“No,” she said. 

“No?” he asked, and she nodded. 

“No. This is what they want. They want us doubting. And worrying. And being angry and upset. They want us vulnerable enough that our defenses are weak. No,” she repeated. 

He watched as she started to smile, and for a moment he was afraid she might be losing her mind, but she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, sending him a wave of that confidence he had been so in awe of just a day before, reminding him who they were. 

The Bad Wolf and the Oncoming Storm. 

His breath hitched against the kiss and he wrapped his arms around her, and she smiled against his lips, pressing his back against the wall of the hallway they were standing in. 

He was reminded, for perhaps the thousandth time, that she was the only thing he needed to believe in. 

His wife. 

His best friend. 

His impossible human. 

Flashes of every time they overcame an obstacle came flooding into their minds, and he had no idea which one of them was making them appear, all he knew was he had to break the kiss when he saw Rose tell the Beast to ‘go to hell’ and he caught her in a hug on this very ship. 

He was panting. 

“Rose…” he said. 

“No one threatens our family, Doctor,” she said. “And you are not going to die. You hear me? You have two more regenerations and I will heal you before I let you use one of them. It’s just a dream, and it’s a locked timeline. It’s a ripple, one trying to throw us off. Your father warned us about that, yeah?” 

The day they got forever came to mind, and he pressed his forehead to hers as his father’s voice rang in his ear. 

_Time is like the Doppler Effect in that way, my son. The timeline you are on is loudest when we’re face to face with it, but remnant ripples may sneak up or linger...Before and after..Remember that._

He nodded, and she cupped a hand to his cheek. 

“I create myself,” she whispered. “And I say no. To all of this.” 

“Quite right, too,” he somehow managed to say, and she flashed him his favorite smile. He just stared at her, so much love filling his soul it was almost inebriating, and he kissed her again. “God, I love you.” 

“I love you, too,” she said. They looked at each other for one more moment, their eyes saying all they needed to know. 

They’ll fight like hell. 

He let out a deep breath, and he nodded. “Right, then...To the villa?” 

She nodded, laughing a little, and he smiled at her, letting the anger go (at least for now) as they held hands. 

The Turtle Star watched over them as they made their way up the sandy pathway to the front door, and they finally got some sleep. 

Much to both of their relief, it was a dreamless night.

**Author's Note:**

> Another song I want to recommend! This one fits canon so well, I often listen to songs that break my heart when I think about these two while I write. Helps me remember what they're fighting against lol 
> 
> Find Me (feat. Birdy) by Sigma. 
> 
> There's a line that says "If you're searching for forever, I'll be waiting. Come find me." and another that says. "Run to me and never leave me now." 
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoyed this story! Things are getting crazy and there's still a ways to go. I have gotten such amazing feedback, and just knowing that people are actually reading these things and like them means more than I can even begin to describe! Writing is something I used to do all the time, and life happens I stopped in college, and picked it back up in the last few months..I dunno. It makes me really happy, so thank you from the bottom of my heart! <3


End file.
